SEW MY NAME

To Everyone,

Have a Wonderful 2008.

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With 4 kids spilling foods and drinks almost everywhere, I was planning to sew another set of dining chair covers for everyday use. So I went through my years of collection of fabrics and found a lovely red cotton/linen fabric from Japan.This was bought more than 10 years ago and I love the print so much that I bought them in large quantity in red and green. Most were sewn for the windows in my old apartment and I am left with 2.5m of red print only.

Now I have to decide to choose between the blue and green combination. I will have to wait for another day or two until I finalized my choice before starting on this project.

Rummaging through my fabric collection I must confess, borrowing words from blogger Anna, that I am an official member of Fabricoholics Anonymous. I have a total of 1 unused luggage bag and 3 A4 printing papers boxes of cotton fabrics! I must also confess that I am guilty for I have UnFinished Objects(UFOs) and Work In Progress (WIPs) to be completed. He..he… I’m not the only one ok, but it is a problem among us quilters- we have too much fabric and too little time.

Buying fabrics is addictive but luckily I am staying in the Far East(we have only 1 Spotlight store here),which unlike in America and Australia they have lots and lots of quilting and patchwork fabric stores. Here we don’t have any quilt/patchwork shows and festivals and I can’t even find a group to join. It’s a rather lonely world for quilters here.

And I am trying hard to stay away from Spotlight store, I guess I might as well put that in my New Year resolution, along with completing the UFOs and the WIPs.

I was in the mood to make pearl straps for watches requested by my sisters and niece, so now you can see the outcome of 6 watches. Compare to sewing and patchwork, making beaded jewelries and accessories is easier and not as time consuming as sewing. Of course, provided you have the necessary tools, beads, stones and findings. I completed beading for 5 pieces of watches yesterday and 1 more today.

Except for the watch faces , the straps look similar. Actually I am using a combination of 6 different colors. It doesn’t show clearly as I am using my mobile phone camera. I have always loved pearls with it’s simple and classic beauty. And you can find Swarovski pearls in many different colors in any fine beading store.The last bracelet watch is a combination of mauve pink and white Swarovski pearls joined together with wires instead of using stringing method.

My sisters do not have the patience for sewing and crafts, so I always end up doing these things for them. But most of them excel in cooking and baking which has never been my forte. Where my family is concern, we eat to live and they are just too happy if Mom puts food on their table. Looking at the bright side of things, we will never be threatened by obesity or worry too much about our weight!

I have always loved the sunshine and rainy days make me down. Since it was raining and I could not go out, I decided to make myself a beaded bracelet and a pair of earrings. I use a combination of 3 colors for the briolettes or teardrop beads – yellow, orange and green. The result is something sweet but nothing great to lift my spirit. I should have chosen red or something bright and cheerful.

Click here to read about what does your favorite color tell about you, adapted from “The Healing Power of Color” by Betty Wood. I guess I like pink because it is such a soothing and sweet color, but I am far from charming and gentle as stated in the color revelation. And I like red, blue, green and yellow too! So to summarize, I prefer bright colors when it comes to sewing, crafts and accessories but I wear conservative colors in my dressings as I do not like to appear loud and outstanding.

If you are running out of time you may like to try to make these Christmas quilts over the weekend. This method of quick-piecing triangles, sometimes called ‘Johannah-gridded-triangle’ eliminates the use of templates or cutting of small, individual triangles. Here I use half-square and quarter square triangles. The small squares used in table runner is from 2 pieces of long strips of fabrics sewn together.

So I managed to complete 2 of the 3 handmade gifts I promised to make in my Pay it forward post for the first 3 to comment on that post.

The first PIF gift is a cheerful table topper measuring 32 in by 32 in. It makes a pretty center piece for a dining table.

The second PIF gift is a table runner measuring 41in by 22 in. I love the green checks with small red hearts on it. It gives the table runner the country look.

I hope the lovely bloggers who received them love it as much as I love piecing the two quilts.PS - Click here for quick-piecing instructions. .

It was my girl’s birthday yesterday and only yesterday I went out to my favorite beads store to get some stuffs to make her birthday present and also to grab a birthday cake. She presumed I have forgotten all about it and was out to celebrate with some friends when I reached home. That was fine so I have a few hours to get the gift done before she returned.

And ta..daa… I managed to make for her a bracelet and matching earrings in turquoise, her birthstone. I think the Swarovski crystals and the silver findings makes the jewelry looks trendy and interesting.

Not a bad effort in such a short time. And sometimes I wish I have more than 24 hours in hand so that I can have more time to pursue my passions especially sewing which is time consuming. But I know deep down even though I have 48 hours in a day it will never be enough, for I will just find more things for myself to do.

Now back to my patchwork which I am hoping to finish before Christmas. See you soon.

This post is dedicated to my brother who got married last weekend. It was just a simple ceremony with close friends and relatives. He is lucky to have such a pretty wife with 2 adorable girls in tow from the bride’s previous marriage.

And just look at the cheerful girls. With family like us where male population could easily form an army battalion and girls are very few , these 2 new additions become is an instant hit with everyone.

I wish the couple a blissful wedded life and lots of happiness and laughter always.